i would like to work on the spell.txt file and come up with a proposal how the mage spells could look like.

I cannot find spell.txt at the link mentioned above tho.

The spells are all now in lib/gamedata/class.txt. Anything you come up with can be part of the conversation about how magic should look when (and if) it gets changed, which is currently planned for version 4.2.

__________________
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.

Mage-Spells:
=====================================
- Only the 1st spell book is available in town.
- All spells have no minimum level requirement.
- The chance of success depends on the caster's intelligence. All spells require an intelligence of
18+(Spellbooklevel/5). The last spellbook thus requires 18/180 intelligence. A spell has a 0%
failure rate (for mage/ranger/thief) if the caster has the required intelligence. The spell failure
rate will increase for 1% mage, 2% ranger/thief for every point the caster's intelligence is below
the required intelligence.
- The spellbook-level specifies which dungeon level the natural deep of the spellbook is.
- Due to their long studies and training of their mind the mage class gets pConfusion at level 30.
- Attack spells are marked with *.
- Utility spells are marked with -.
=====================================

[ Lore of Bloodmagic ] (70) The Bloodmagic spells cost always the same HP they cost in mana.
* Touch of Death (100) drain life from adjacent monster if target does not save, instantly killed
- Rune of Protection (60) the caster draws a circle of blood on the ground which cannot be entered
* Chaos Strike (20) range 20 chaos bolt, target must save or is polymorphed to Level-5, dam 160
- Sacrifice Life (100) the caster sacrifices life to gain new mana, cost 100 hp gain 200 mana
- Imbue Power (60) the caster imbues his own spiritual power into a wand/staff, recharge fail 0%
- Nightvision (5) eyes turn red so the caster can see in the dark, rogue only, duration: next level

So, while the damage levels really require some reworking, since some of the damage spells are absurdly weak, and others seem generous, tweaking those is a relatively simple exercise. So, I'll be focusing more on the utility spells.

Spells that no-one will ever use: Wonder (randomness is far too dangerous at levels at which you get this kind of spell), Alertness (no practical effect, really), Polymorph (see Wonder), Multi-missile (even if this is tweaked, 12d6 damage for 15 mana is expensive, and hitting multiple targets can be done with a ball spell), Bash Door (20 mana is absurd for half of a trap/door destruct, not to mention V doesn't even have jammed doors anymore), Touch of Death (sacrificing lots of life to maybe kill something that is next to you is a great way to die)

A couple spells have odd duplication: Rift and Magic Hole seem way too similar, as does Recharge and Imbue Power. At least Recharge and Imbue Power are functionally a bit different, since Imbue Power is better in almost all situations (if you're recharging, you probably have quite a bit of free time).

I am impressed with the decision to remove many of the utility spells such as detect traps/doors/stairs (it comes late enough that it really doesn't matter too much anymore).

I also really like the bloodcasting idea, but there are problems with it. For one, casting it in combat is incredibly dangerous - usually a move puts you in a better position, not a worse one - and when not in combat it isn't really a credible cost.

I think you're way too generous to ranger/rogue. As far as I can tell, a rogue would have +10 speed (or +5 speed and +100 AC), never miss, take 15% less damage in melee, unlimited light radius, base immunities, including poison, and slightly more utility than a mage. A ranger never misses a shot, and has more or less all of the above advantages. In fact, given spend HP to gain mana spell, a faultless recharge, and a staff of healing, or even just staff of magi, faultless recharge and staff of healing, spell costs are irrelevant outside of combat.

I am impressed with the decision to remove many of the utility spells such as detect traps/doors/stairs (it comes late enough that it really doesn't matter too much anymore).

I think the utility spells are absolutely critical to any kind of strategic gameplay and don't come too late at all. I use them (especially detect traps, doors, and stairs) constantly, at every phase of the game. It's vastly better to carry one spellbook with the basic detects in it than several items to detect each thing separately.

* Detecting traps allows you to avoid losing a promising level to a trapdoor or a vital spellbook to a burst of flames.

* Detecting doors gives you some idea of the layout of rooms ahead of you and helps predict what rooms might be pits or vaults, without actually having to reveal everything all at once. (I hate mapping because I track my progress through a level based on how much of it is visible.)

* Detecting stairs allows you to quickly escape a level that's not promising or too dangerous -- and gives you the choice of whether to go up or down, which can be really key in the early stages in particular.

* Detecting monsters is indispensable for determining strategy, deciding whether to break into a vault or not, and generally keeping yourself alive. Is that a kobold pit or a jelly pit behind that door? Orcs, or undead?

* Detecting treasure/objects is useful in much the same ways as detecting monsters -- is there anything in there worth fighting for or should I just skip that pit? Buried treasure is much more important when selling objects is turned off as well. If I'm starving to death, I want to know where the nearest food is and fast.

I'm thinking I'll take a shot at the context-sensitive help, since documentation is my area of expertise. (And I can really use the recent work experience since I haven't had a job for a couple of years now.)

Can anyone suggest a good place to get started with this? i.e., are there lib files I can mine for messages (nothing obvious popped out at me) or is it just a matter of playing the game and writing help entries for things that pop up?

What's the scope here? What types of messages do you want help for, what types should be considered self-explanatory? I can start with what's most obvious, but there are an awful lot of possible messages. (The "Current Plans" link at http://trac.rephial.org/ticket/13 is broken.)

I'm thinking I'll take a shot at the context-sensitive help, since documentation is my area of expertise. (And I can really use the recent work experience since I haven't had a job for a couple of years now.)

Can anyone suggest a good place to get started with this? i.e., are there lib files I can mine for messages (nothing obvious popped out at me) or is it just a matter of playing the game and writing help entries for things that pop up?

What's the scope here? What types of messages do you want help for, what types should be considered self-explanatory? I can start with what's most obvious, but there are an awful lot of possible messages. (The "Current Plans" link at http://trac.rephial.org/ticket/13 is broken.)

That ticket predates my involvement in Angband development...

I guess we need to think about what sort of context-sensitive help would be useful - there are already, for example, help tips in the shop interface.

__________________
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.

That seems a lot of spells. I'd be more comfortable with the changes being more incremental. Magnate asked for:
(1) fix the "damage progression" of attack spells
(2) subdivide better the existing spells into books

It seems like you did that, but combined irreversibly with:
(3) adding a bunch of new stuff, some of it with dubious balance effects (I think that giving players access to infinite magical arrows inside the dungeon is problematic, for instance). That spell list is huge; how many spells do you have there, like 80?
(4) reworking completely the mana/failure rate/int bonus formulas, in particular giving 0% fail rate to classes other than mages, which is extremely game-changing.
(5) altering some of the existing spells, sometimes in ways that look gratuitous (why should satisfy hunger be changed to "conjure food"? What advantage does it have compared to the current state?)

In short, this looks like a giant step for a game that usually changes at a much slower pace. I'd be more comfortable in getting (1) and (2) done immediately and independently of the other changes.

(That said, I like some of the suggestions, for instance the burning hands spell looks like a great idea to combine attack and utility).
(and I realize that you did a lot of work here, and here I am commenting gratuitously instead of having helped by doing it myself, so kudos and thanks for getting involved)